To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
27,291,986 = 2 × 113 × 197 × 613
27,291,986 is a composite number.
59,399,926 = 2 × 29,699,963
59,399,926 is a composite number.
27,291,986/59,399,926 =
(27,291,986 ÷ 2) / (59,399,926 ÷ 2) =
13,645,993/29,699,963
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
27,291,986/59,399,926 =
(2 × 113 × 197 × 613)/(2 × 29,699,963) =
((2 × 113 × 197 × 613) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 29,699,963) ÷ 2) =
(113 × 197 × 613)/29,699,963 =
13,645,993/29,699,963
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
13,645,993/29,699,963 =
13,645,993 ÷ 29,699,963 =
0.459461616164 ≈
0.46